Going to Market, Brittany

Charles Laval (French, 1862-1894)

The Pont-Aven artists often painted aspects of daily life in Brittany. In this animated scene, a couple rides to market in a wagon, as strong winds lift the woman's white collar and threaten to toss the bystander's hat.

Laval, whose profile appears in the adjacent canvas by Gauguin, painted this image during the pivotal summer of 1888, when Gauguin and Bernard developed their Pont-Aven style. The arbitrary use of bright red and green in the flattened background, and the dark borders outlining the figures, demonstrate his mastery of their new decorative approach.

{1}This has not yet been confirmed. The painting was still in the possession of Laval in 1889 when it was included in "L'Exposition de Peintures du Groupe Impressioniste et Synthétiste faite dans le local de M. Volpini," as cat. no. 85 "Allant au marché- Bretagne."{2}This painting was included in an exhibition "L'École de Pont-Aven" at the Galerie La Cave in spring 1978. An advertisement for this exhibition illustrates this painting, see Burlington Magazine, vol. 120, no. 903 (June 1978), p. lxxx.{3}See Josefowitz inventory card, copy in IMA Provenance file (1998.178) indicating he purchased this painting in April 1978.

Samuel Josefowitz Collection of the School of Pont-Aven, through the generosity of Lilly Endowment Inc., the Josefowitz Family, Mr. and Mrs. James M. Cornelius, Mr. and Mrs. Leonard J. Betley, Lori and Dan Efroymson, and other Friends of the Museum